The science of hermeneutics actually begins with Protestantism, although the art of exegesis and reflection on it are, of course, much
older. There are, for example, hermeneutical passages in Origen2
and in the writings of the Antioch School, as well as the seven rules
of Tyconius.3 Even more extensive discussions can be found in the
third book of Augustine's On Christian Doctrine and in the second
book of Junilius's4 well-known work, Instituta regularia divinae
legis (Rules for the Divine Law).5 But as important as these writings
are for the history of the canon and doctrine, one cannot really call
the scattered statements they contain a scientific treatment of the
subject. They are, rather, an agglomeration without a connecting
principle. Their form reflects the inherent lack of independence of
Catholic exegesis. As a result of the battle against Gnosticism, the
legacy of the Apostolic Age had been placed under the protective
custody of the authority of tradition. Henceforward, hermeneutics

This is a translation of Dilthey's prize-essay on Schleiermacher's hermeneutics,
which he submitted in 1860. Only one section of the text (GS XIV, 612–18)was
published by Dilthey himself as part of the essay “Das natürliche System der Geisteswissenschaften im 17. Jahrhundert, ” Archiv für die Geschichte der Philosophie 6
(1893): 69–95 (GS II, 115–36). The full prize-essay was first published in 1966
by Martin Redeker in GS XIV, 595–787. Pagination in the margins refers to this
volume.

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